Switzerland win four medals over the weekend
Futures in Europe
The Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour had another intense weekend of action in Europe, with three Futures events held simultaneously in the continent, and again the local duos were in top form, claiming all 15 medals in play.
With ten different countries winning medals in the double-gender events held in Ios and Messina and the men-only tournament staged in Geneva, Switzerland stood out among them, taking home as many as four medals – Italy and Czechia claimed two medals each.
Much of the Swiss success this week was built in their home tournament, which had the podium entirely filled by duos from the host country.
Top-seeded Yves Haussener and Julian Friedli were the winners of the event, overcoming compatriots Florian Breer and Luc Flückiger in the three-set (20-22, 21-16, 15-11) gold medal match in Geneva.
Beach Pro Tour Geneva Futures – Men
Tokyo Olympian Adrian Heidrich and partner Jonathan Jordan defeated Norwegians Nils Ringøen and Even Aas in straight sets (29-27, 21-15) in the bronze medal match to confirm the all-Swiss podium.
Czechs and Italians shine in Messina
The fourth Swiss medal in the weekend was won in Messina, where Menia Bentele and Annique Niederhauser earned silver. The two made it to the gold medal match of the event, but fell to Czechs Martina Maixnerova and Kylie Neuschaeferova, who took the title with a two-set (23-21, 21-19) victory.
Two Czech teams met in the bronze medal match and the Pavelková twins Anna and Katerina got the better of qualifiers Lucie Knoblochova and Adela Petrikova, triumphing 2-0 (21-14, 21-16) to secure the last spot on the podium.
Beach Pro Tour Messina Futures – Women
The men’s medal gold match in Messina also had teams from the same country facing off, with Italians Alex Ranghieri and Tobia Marchetto completing a tremendous campaign, which started in the qualifier, with a three-set (21-18, 18-21, 15-13) victory over compatriots Samuele Cottafava and Gianluca Dal Corso.
Bronze in Messina went to Danish Mads Møllgaard and Nicolai Hovmann, who claimed the last spot on the podium after they defeated Germans Jannis Hopt and Simon Pfretzschner in straight sets (21-17, 23-21).
Beach Pro Tour Messina Futures – Men
Makhno twins victorious in Ios
In Ios, the Ukrainian Makhno twins Inna and Iryna won their second-straight Beach Pro Tour gold medals by triumphing in the women’s event. The two, who won last week’s event in Kraków, defeated the home team of Elisavet Triantafillidi and Dimitra Manavi in the tie-breaker (21-17, 19-21, 18-16).
France made it to the podium in third place with Saofé Duval and Marilu Pally, who secured a two-set (21-16, 21-17) victory over Japanese Sakura Ito and Mayu Sawame in the bronze medal match.
Beach Pro Tour Ios Futures – Women
The men’s event in Greece was also won by a pair of brothers, as it had Gilles and Louis Vandecaveye at the top of the podium. The Belgians secured the title with a two-set (21-16, 23-21) victory over Spanish Daniel Moreno and Roberto Sanfélix in the gold medal match.
The third and last spot in the men’s podium in Ios went to Austrian Olympians Robin Seidl and Alexander Huber, who downed Germans Niklas Held and Hennes Nissen 2-0 (21-16, 21-15) in the bronze medal match.
Beach Pro Tour Ios Futures – Men
Geneva is going to host another single-gender Futures event this week, this time with the women playing from Thursday to Sunday.
The Beach Pro Tour Futures events in Europe are run by the CEV in close cooperation with Volleyball World and provide teams from the continent with several opportunities to compete and gain valuable international ranking points.